A Grand Gorge car dealership in business for more than 80 years is at risk of losing its Ford franchise.
W.S. Hinkley & Sons, Inc., a Ford dealership created in 1930 by auto mogul Henry Ford himself, has sold nearly a century worth of Ford cars and trucks, but Ford – which claims the dealership is underperforming – has taken steps to sever ties with the dealership.
According to representatives of law firm Bellavia Blatt & Crossett, a Long Island-based firm representing Hinkley & Sons owner Ed Hinkley, Hinkley has filed a law suit against Ford to prevent his dealership being disenfranchised.
In a written statement, the Bellavia Blatt & Crossett said Hinkley refused “to go down without a fight.”
The hundreds of frustrated Volkswagen dealers who turned up at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in March in Las Vegas faced a difficult decision.
Charge ahead with a class-action lawsuit against the automaker for damages related to the diesel emissions scandal, or roll the dice on an out-of-court deal.
At the last minute, retailers decided to go for a settlement — wishing to avoid a contentious court battle that would further damage a franchise already under siege. But that choice may prove to be a costly miscalculation.
Bellavia Blatt & Crossett, P.C. (“Bellavia Blatt”), a law firm that represents thousands of franchised automobile dealerships, has announced that, on June 29, 2016, it commenced a class-action lawsuit against online motor vehicle advertiser Autotrader.com. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Atlanta, Georgia, based upon a forum choice clause in Autotrader’s contracts.
The plaintiff in the case, B&Z Auto Enterprises-the owner and operator of an automobile dealership group located in Bronx, New York-alleges that, during a five-year period from June 2010 until June 2015, Autotrader greatly misrepresented the advertising reach being achieved by auto dealers who subscribed to Autotrader’s online advertising services. The complaint alleges that Autotrader over-reported the web page views received by dealers, and other performance metrics, for the purposes of inducing dealers to become Autotrader customers, to remain as customers, and with the goal of upselling premium services to existing customers. In addition, the complaint alleges that Autotrader was able to artificially inflate the rates paid by dealers based upon Autotrader’s misrepresented advertising performance metrics.
“Autotrader’s representatives advertise in sales presentations to dealer principals that their website provides a certain number of page views of a dealer’s vehicles offered for sale,” said Leonard Bellavia, founding partner of the law firm Bellavia Blatt & Crossett. “Every month thereafter, Autotrader provides each dealer a ‘scorecard’ and other reports that state the number of times the dealer’s vehicles were viewed … We assert that the number of page views that Autotrader claimed B&Z Auto and other dealers were receiving was inflated by 50{f15fad3b04d89020a05738ee85256797e9759bd19fdd229b29bad9398df16913} to 100{f15fad3b04d89020a05738ee85256797e9759bd19fdd229b29bad9398df16913} or more on an ongoing basis throughout the five-year class period.”
The class-action complaint alleges that Autotrader’s over-reporting of web page views occurred nationwide, and was based on an improperly programmed software counting system and an automated data reporting program, which Autotrader had knowledge of but nonetheless continued to misrepresent the dealers’ results.
MINEOLA, NY, September 3, 2014-Bellavia Blatt Andron & Crossett, P.C. now represents over 700 dealership plaintiffs in its $350 million antitrust case against CARFAX-up from just 124 when the suit was originally filed in May 2013.
The suit alleges that CARFAX has illegal alliances with key players in the auto industry, which freezes out competition, thereby resulting in increased prices and unreliable vehicle history reports. Automobile dealers are forced to do business with CARFAX at grossly inflated prices, only to have CARFAX spend these inflated revenues on ads that disparage dealers as dishonest, when it is the automotive shopper who is being misled into believing CARFAX ads that claim its vehicle history reports contain accurate data.
Automobile dealers would benefit by joining together to push back against the claimed oppressive business practices of CARFAX. Bellavia Blatt Senior Partner Leonard A. Bellavia said, “The number of participating dealers in this suit continues to grow on a weekly basis. This is a testament to just how important this case is to their future business dealings.”
Bellavia Blatt is seeking substantial money damages per dealership, along with an injunction against the alleged illegal conduct. Only dealers participating in the suit will benefit. Please call (516) 873-3000 or email KTimson@DealerLaw.com to obtain information about participation in this very important matter.
When Mercedes-Benz scuttled Jona-than Sobel’s $30 million deal to buy a New Jersey dealership last year by exercising its right of first refusal, Sobel sued. And he got a lot more cautious about where he’d buy more dealerships to add to his stores in New York.
Sobel declined to discuss specifics of his lawsuit. But in general “right of first refusal has a chilling effect on the buysell market,” he told Automotive News. “Why would I spend the time and the effort to structure a complex transaction only to find out a manufacturer is going to use their right of first refusal to cherry pick my best deals?”
Mineola, N.Y., October 1, 2014-In a decision issued this week, the Federal Court denied a motion filed by CARFAX to dismiss Bellavia Blatt’s $350 million antitrust case lawsuit. The case will now proceed to the discovery phase.
Bellavia Blatt-which represents over 750 dealerships in this lawsuit (up from just 124 when the suit was originally filed in May 2013)-alleges that CARFAX has illegal alliances with key players in the auto industry, which freezes out competition, thereby resulting in increased prices and unreliable vehicle history reports. Automobile dealers are forced to do business with CARFAX at grossly inflated prices, only to have CARFAX spend these inflated revenues on ads that disparage dealers as dishonest, when it is the automotive shopper who is being misled into believing CARFAX ads that claim its vehicle history reports contain accurate data.
“This recent decision is a substantial victory for the dealers as the Court held that we have asserted legally cognizable claims under the various antitrust laws,” said Bellavia Blatt Senior Partner Leonard A. Bellavia. “This is an important initiative to redress wrongs being committed against both dealers and consumers.”
Bellavia Blatt is seeking substantial money damages per dealership, along with an injunction against the alleged illegal conduct. Please call (516) 873-3000 or email KTimson@DealerLaw.com to obtain information about participation in this very important matter.
Bellavia Blatt, P.C. was founded in 1987 and is a nationally recognized authority in the field of automotive franchise law. The firm represents thousands of automobile and marine dealerships across the country. With offices across the tri-state area, Bellavia Blatt is recognized as one of the foremost law firms in the nation for advocating the rights of franchised or licensed dealers.
Leonard A. Bellavia will be a speaker at the New Jersey Regional Auto Dealers Seminar on October 16 in Hackensack, NJ. and will discuss The Latest Factory Intrusions: The Right of First Refusal in Buy-Sells.
Mr. Bellavia will address the recent proliferation of factory disruptions of the buy-sell process through the rebuffing of buyers in signed buy-sell agreements by the exercise of the right of first refusal (ROFR) in order to exert further control over who enters the dealer network.
Discussion points will include:
. Dealers are paying more attention to the ROFR provision in dealer sales and service agreements as the right is being exercised more frequently
. Both buyers and sellers are being adversely affected by imperfectly executed ROFRs, and resulting litigations have been filed in the last two years to sort out the respective rights of the parties
. The challenges that both buyers and sellers face regarding ROFRs
. How to understand the language in buy-sell agreements so that the likelihood of a factory ROFR and its ensuing problems and delays is reduced
MINEOLA, NY, September 17, 2014-In an amended complaint filed this week, 20 additional terminated Chrysler dealers have joined Bellavia Blatt’s lawsuit against the U.S. Government, raising the total number of plaintiffs to 168.
In 2009, the President’s Automotive Task Force ordered Chrysler to close 789 of its 3,200 franchises as a condition of a government bailout, as it believed Chrysler dealers were an expense to the company, which was later determined to be mistaken. In response, Bellavia Blatt filed a lawsuit stating the termination of the dealerships was a “taking” — a violation of constitutional law, which says the federal government cannot take property without paying “just compensation.” The lawsuit seeks compensation for the terminated dealers for the value of the dealerships.
The U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled against the U.S. Treasury’s motion to dismiss and allowed Bellavia Blatt the opportunity to amend the complaint, including adding 20 dealer plaintiffs.
“The recent Court of Appeals ruling validates the legitimacy of our lawsuit against the government and gets us one step closer to justice in receiving compensation for these terminated Chrysler dealers,” said Bellavia Blatt Senior Partner Leonard A. Bellavia.
Please visit www.DealerLaw.com for more information regarding this lawsuit.
Senior Partner Leonard A. Bellavia will be a featured speaker at the 2014 NADC Fall Conference in Chicago on October 26-28. Mr. Bellavia’s session is on October 27, and he will address the recent proliferation of factory disruptions of the buy-sell process through the rebuffing of buyers in signed buy-sell agreements by the exercise of the right of first refusal (ROFR) in order to exert further control over who enters the dealer network. Mr. Bellavia will also discuss how transactional counsel can draft language in buy-sell agreements to reduce the likelihood of a factory ROFR and the attendant problems and delays.
The ongoing recall saga has left dealers in a world of confusion, and new threats related to unrepaired units may be larger than they appear.
The 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster “Total Recall” (and its underwhelming 2012 remake) is a futuristic fantasy trip centered around Rekall, a company that sells dreams so real they become actual memories. In the original, after a virtual trip to Mars goes awry, Arnold finds himself in a world of blurred reality as a fugitive, outlaw and revolutionary fighting to overthrow the dictator of a police state. . Or is he?
